The Undercover Couple

Chapter 6

Wonwoo found it nearly impossible to get out of bed the next morning. He'd fallen asleep in an empty bed when the tears stopped falling. Mingyu had, presumably, slept on the sofa, but when Wonwoo finally dragged himself out of bed, Mingyu was long gone. He stared at his blotchy face in the mirror as he splashed cold water on it. By the time he got down to the kitchen, he felt like his chest was caving in. It took everything in his power to not turn the TV on to check what the news reporters were saying. Nothing they said would help him. He brewed himself a cup of tea before collapsing onto the sofa.

For a moment he closed his eyes. All he could see was the roaring fire, the blistering heat. He snapped his eyes back open. He couldn't continue like this. He thought for a moment about calling Mingyu, but didn't want to appear weak. Instead he dragged himself over to the table where his laptop sat. The note from Jane sat next to it. He crumpled the note up, throwing it up and down in the air for a few moments. Why had Jane given it to him, he wondered. What had she expected him to do with the information? And how much did she know? He stopped throwing it, letting the paper crash to the table next to him as he was struck by a thought. He clicked over to the documents he'd been attempting to decode, his eyes scanning down the words as fast as he could. 47 Around Mortals. He uncrumpled the paper from Jane, scribbling the words beneath the address she gave him. It took him only a few moments to connect it. 47 Around Mortals was an anagram for 47 Arms Road, Luton.

His eyes danced across the rest of the documents. With enough time, he might be able to decode these. He might be able to create a path of Spooner's movements.

By the time Mingyu came home that evening, he'd managed to unscramble six more locations, all in the Greater London area.

"Good day?" Mingyu asked as he came in the door. Even though it had become a habit to see him like this, Wonwoo still felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw Mingyu looking dishevelled from the day. Today the shirt Mingyu was wearing was rolled up over his forearms, a pastel blue that made his eyes shine brilliantly. The sleeves accentuated the veins running down his strong forearms in a way that made Wonwoo's mouth dry out a little, and he couldn't help the way his eyes traced down to Mingyu's big strong hands.

"Yeah," Wonwoo said, finding his voice. "Actually, yeah. Look at this," he shoved the piece of paper he'd made his notes on towards Mingyu. "All those words that made no sense, they were addresses."

Mingyu's eyes danced over them quickly. "Damn, Jeon. That's impressive."

Wonwoo turned the computer towards Mingyu. "I looked back at various local council records. Most of these properties are disused. These three though," he pointed at the ones he circled. "All had fires recently."

"Strange," Mingyu said.

"Right? So this document is where Spooner is doing something. And he adds to it."

"How do you know that?"

Wonwoo smirked. "I'm not too bad on the computer either. I checked the edit history of the document. This address was only added two days before you got access to the hard drive."

"So he adds places before he goes and does something in an abandoned building that ends in an explosion or fire?"

"Perhaps he's demonstrating the scope of his weapons? Perhaps he's showboating for a potential buyer?"

Mingyu nodded. "That would make sense. Hang on," he said, rummaging around in his bag. "I made a copy of an email Spooner sent today. I didn't think too much of it, because it's mostly nonsense. But maybe it's just an anagram?" He handed it over to Wonwoo, his eyes glinting.

Dear Michael,

I hope you are well. I am writing regarding Copenhagen euros wax, and our plans regarding this. It is my intention to see Bucharest downhearted charterhouse moor trow.